UFC 08 – David vs. Goliath

UFC 08

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HISTORY INFO

UFC 08: David vs. Goliath was a mixed martial arts (MMA) pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 16, 1996, at Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. It was the first and only UFC event in Puerto Rico to date, and was later released on home video.

UFC 08 featured an eight-man tournament, and a UFC Superfight Championship fight between reigning UFC champion Ken Shamrock and Kimo Leopoldo. The event also featured one alternate fight, which was not shown on the live pay-per-view broadcast. The tournament had no weight classes, or weight limits. A 10-minute time limit was imposed for all matches in the tournament except Superfight and final (15 minutes).

The event’s matchups pitted larger fighters against smaller fighters, hence the term “David vs. Goliath”. Local promoter for the historical first and only professional mixed martial arts event was Richy Miranda-Cortese, whose company Sports & Entertainment Ltd had to take local Government officials to Federal Court in order to avoid cancellation of the event by the Government. Among those government officials was Governor Pedro Rosselló and Sports and Recreation Director Erick Labrador. The presentation of the event developed into a new boxing commission rules and regulations and Imposition of a banning Law that was later overturned after Miranda-Cortese fought it in court.

HISTORY INFO

The tournament championship fight featured Don Frye against Gary Goodridge, with Frye taking the victory when Goodridge tapped out.

Just days before the show, the Puerto Rican government made a ruling banning the event. Two days before the card, Cablevision became the first major carrier, of what over the next few years would become nearly every major cable system in North America, to ban the show, stating it never expected to air UFC or similar type of programming ever again.

The event is also notable as being the first MMA event to draw criticism, including Michigan politician Calvin McCard’s on site protests at UFC 8. These protests would spark the nationwide movement against MMA in 1996, spearheaded by Arizona Senator John McCain, which would later temporarily push the sport in the United States underground in 1997.[3]

SPOILER RESULTS

Superfight Championship

Weight class

Method

Round

Time

Notes

N/A

Ken Shamrock (c)

def.

Kimo Leopoldo

Submission (kneebar)

4:24

[a]

Finals

N/A

Don Frye

def.

Gary Goodridge

Submission (position)

2:14

Semifinals

N/A

Don Frye

def.

Sam Adkins

TKO (doctor stoppage)

0:48

[b]

N/A

Gary Goodridge

def.

Jerry Bohlander

TKO (punches)

5:31

Quarterfinals

N/A

Don Frye

def.

Thomas Ramirez

KO (punch)

0:08

N/A

Paul Varelans

def.

Joe Moreira

Unanimous Decision

10:00

[c]

N/A

Jerry Bohlander

def.

Scott Ferrozzo

Submission (guillotine choke)

9:03

N/A

Gary Goodridge

def.

Paul Herrera

KO (elbows)

0:13

Alternate bouts

N/A

Sam Adkins

def.

Keith Mielke

Submission (punches)

0:50

Shamrock defended the UFC Superfight Championship finally.

Adkins replace Paul Varelans, who are injured in his Quarterfinal bout.

Due to injuries sustained in this fight, Varelans was unable to continue in the tournament and was replaced by Sam Adkins.

UFC 08 – David vs. Goliath was last modified: December 20th, 2016 by Pepito Grillo